41 replies to this topic

[Pam R]

What are some of your favorite kosher or Jewish cookbooks? Most of mine are older than I am - it's time to support some new authors. (new to me would be anybody published within the last 30 years )


From starters to desserts and everything in between. Baking, holidays, everyday. Recommendations?

[bloviatrix]

These are ones I turn to most frequently. In otherwords, the ones that are stained and have broken spines.

Joan Nathan Jewish Cooking in America
Jeffrey Nathan Adventures in Jewish Cooking
Jayne Cohen The Gefilte Variations
Phyllis Glazer with Miriyam Glazer The Essential Book of Jewish Festival Cooking
Gil Marks Olive Trees and Honey (his other books are pretty good as well)
Claudia Roden's Book of Jewish Food is an excellent reference, but I don't cook from it frequently.

[andiesenji]

I second the vote for Olive Trees and Honey. It is an extraordinary book.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Matzoh Ball Gumbo : Culinary Tales of the Jewish South by Marcie Cohen Ferris is my most recent and it is more about the Southern Jews than recipes ...

The New York Times Jewish Cookbook: More than 825 Traditional & Contemporary Recipes from Around the World by Linda Amster (Editor), Mimi Sheraton (Introduction)

Fast & Festive Meals for the Jewish Holidays : Complete Menus, Rituals, And Party-Planning Ideas For Every Holiday Of The Year by Marlene Sorosky

The Essential Book of Jewish Festival Cooking : 200 Seasonal Holiday Recipes and Their Traditionsby Phyllis Glazer, Miriyam Glazer

I generally buy regular cookbooks which really don't focus on kosher foods .. I simply adapt the recipes to kosher specifications when I can ...

At this moment I am upstairs in my house on my computer and can't recall the titles in my kitchen cookbook collection .. more tomorrow ...

[NWKate]

I love the NYT Passover Cookbook, Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook, and Evelyn Rose's The New Complete International Jewish Cookbook.

I also enjoy picking up synagogue cookbooks at garage sales and the like. My own synagogue's cookbook is well-loved and well-stained!

Also, in my document file, I keep a subcategory of Jewish recipes further subdivided into holidays, meat, dairy, and pareve.

Kate

Edited by NWKate, 12 February 2006 - 09:53 PM.

[Rebecca263]

That's funny about your collection being all over 30 years old, Pam! Because I used to deal in vintage books, I've got an immense collection of older Kosher cookbooks too! And, in fact, looking at my collection, nothing modern at all, except for the Deal Delights cookbook. Do you have an edition of that? It's a fabulous Syrian Kosher cookbook. The Sephardic Women's Organization of the Jersey Shore (Deal) has put out a new version recently, with the proceeds going to charity.Deal Delights! Every Syrian Brooklyn/Deal girl I know gets a copy when she gets engaged, and Syrian girls can COOK! I bought a second copy for my kiddle a few months ago, because there's no way that she's taking mine when she leaves the nest!
edited because I went into my favorites and found the DIRECT link.

Edited by Rebecca263, 12 February 2006 - 10:03 PM.

[Pan]

Gotta put in a prop here for Edda Servi Machlin, who's written cookbooks on Tuscan Jewish cuisine. I think the cookbook by her that my parents have is the hardcover edition of The classic cuisine of the Italian Jews: Traditional recipes and menus and a memoir of a vanished way of life, her first cookbook. Anyway, it's terrific. We've made various recipes from the book, and they were all excellent. One Passover, we even made an entire seder of recipes from that book, and it was a smashing success (what great charoses they made in Pitigliano!). Also, though only part of it is kosher, if you like Indian food, have a look at Copeland Marks' The Varied Kitchens of India: Cuisines of the Anglo-Indians of Calcutta, Bengalis, Jews of Calcutta, Kashmiris, Parsis, and Tibetans of Darjeeling. The Calcutta Sephardic recipes are quite distinct from any other Indian style I know of, and there are a bunch of them.

[hsm]

Another schmaltz-covered thumb up for Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Kitchen.

But my heart belongs to a book I bought over 20 years ago and its sequel my Mom got me: Fiddler in the Kitchen (isbn 0-939-11466-6) and More Fiddler in the Kitchen. They were put together by the National Council of Jewish Women (Greater Detroit Section). I'll bet many cities have similar books - but I'll also bet no one beats the two brisket recipes here!

Edited by hsm, 12 February 2006 - 11:39 PM.

[Fat Guy]

Two recent titles of note that I've enjoyed:

Jewish Food: The World at Table, by Matthew Goodman -- this also happens to be a very attractive book.

The Mensch Chef: Or Why Delicious Jewish Food Isn't an Oxymoron, by Mitchell Davis -- Mitchell is the director of publications at the James Beard Foundation and is a very talented cook and extremely well-traveled gourmet; his recipes meet a pretty high standard and I've had the pleasure of tasting several of the dishes prepared by him at events.

Interesting that these are both written by men. The older titles seem to be overwhelmingly by women.

[Swisskaese]

Cucina Ebraica: Flavors of the Italian Jewish Kitchen by Joyce Goldstein

Sephardic Israeli Cuisine: A Mediterranean Mosaic by Sheilah Kaufman

Kosher Cooking by our own Marlena Spieler

Saffron Shores: Jewish Cooking of the Southern Mediterranean by Joyce Goldstein

If you can read Hebrew, then I would recommend finding Josef (Tommy) Lapid's Hungarian cookbook. It is very good.

Otherwise, this one might be fun to get:

A Taste of the Past: The Daily Life and Cooking of a Nineteenth-Century Hungarian Jewish Homemaker by Andras Koerner

Edited by Swisskaese, 13 February 2006 - 09:02 AM.

[anzu]

I cook frequently from Claudia Roden's Book of Jewish Food, I especially love the Sephardic section.

Do you read French? If so, then Andree Zana-Murat's La Cuisine Juive Tunisienne.

And my favorite: Mavis Hyman's Indian-Jewish Cooking. Many of the recipes in this book have become my staples.

[Carrot Top]

Gotta put in a prop here for Edda Servi Machlin, who's written cookbooks on Tuscan Jewish cuisine. I think the cookbook by her that my parents have is the hardcover edition of The classic cuisine of the Italian Jews: Traditional recipes and menus and a memoir of a vanished way of life, her first cookbook.

I'll add my vote for this book.

Fascinating read, and the recipes are delicious and well-written.

[Pam R]

Thanks so much for all the great suggestions! I already own one of them, but have a couple of the others on my 'wish list' and will be adding more. Please keep the suggestions coming as you discover other great books.

I generally buy regular cookbooks which really don't focus on kosher foods .. I simply adapt the recipes to kosher specifications when I can ...

Melissa, I do this too. But I'm becoming more and more interested in the cooking of Jews from places like Spain, Morocco, Italy and more. You know, places my ancestors 'didn't know from'. Also, tell me one regular cookbook that will tell me how to make teiglach when my recipe doesn't work!

If you can read Hebrew, then I would recommend

Do you read French?

I read both Hebrew and French fluently. Unfortunely, I don't understand most of what I read .

[Gifted Gourmet]

Finally went through my older kosher cookbooks and unearthed these ... now I will re-read them and find all kinds of almost new recipes to try! Thanks for the "zetz" Pam!

The idea of healthy kosher cooking sounds like an oxymoron at first but really need not be the case at all ...

[Rebecca263]

Lots of Sephardic cooking is fruit and vegetable based, and very healthy, if you watch your olive oil pouring! One thing is certain, Sephardic food keeps you 'regular' with all of the grains and fruits and vegetables.
Melissa, I looked at your photo and I have those paperbacks on the top in MY collection, but my copies are so old they're hardcovers! Do you have the Chinese Kosher book as well? Those books are funny.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Melissa, I looked at your photo and I  have those paperbacks on the top in MY collection, but my copies are so old they're hardcovers! Do you have the Chinese Kosher book as well?

The top paperbacks are in terrible condition but there is a Kosher Chinese among them!

[andiesenji]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this one.
If you can find a copy, Dorothy Seaman and Paula Smith's
Not Chopped Liver, the Kosher Way to Cook Gourmet, which I have enjoyed for close to 30 years, is an oversized paperback that is a lot of fun to read, as well as containing some great recipes.

I am not Jewish but many, many years ago I lived with an Orthodox family for a bit over a year and developed a great appreciation for the traditional foods. Bubbe Koenigsberg gave me The Molly Goldberg Jewish Cookbook by Gertrude Berg and Myra Waldo which I still treasure.

I also have Spice and Spirit of Kosher Jewish Cooking by Esther Blau. And three or four books from various ladies auxillary groups from temples in L.A. the Valley and Pasadena, including California Kosher, which I can't find right at the moment.

[bloviatrix]

That's funny about your collection being all over 30 years old, Pam! Because I used to deal in vintage books, I've got an immense collection of older Kosher  cookbooks too! And, in fact, looking at my collection, nothing modern at all, except for the Deal Delights cookbook. Do you have an edition of that? It's a fabulous Syrian Kosher cookbook. The Sephardic Women's Organization of the Jersey Shore (Deal) has put out a new version recently, with the proceeds going to charity.Deal Delights! Every Syrian Brooklyn/Deal girl I know gets a copy when she gets engaged, and Syrian girls can COOK! I bought a second copy for my kiddle a few months ago, because there's no way that she's taking mine when she leaves the nest!  
edited because I went into my favorites and found the DIRECT link.

I'm so excited to know about this. I've been dying to get my hands on the red and white editions.

[Rebecca263]

... It's a fabulous Syrian Kosher cookbook. The Sephardic Women's Organization of the Jersey Shore (Deal) has put out a new version recently, with the proceeds going to charity.Deal Delights! ...

I'm so excited to know about this. I've been dying to get my hands on the red and white editions.

ME TOO! We had a puppy that destroyed my first copy (wedding copy) and my second copy was STOLEN! I swear, our home was robbed, and they took my Deal Delights! Poopa Dweck has run out, it seems, and this new version is pretty much the real 'deal' . But, let's face the facts, that red book is an icon. My stepmother tried to get me another copy, and she has to buy new copies for all of her newer granddaughters, now, too. She told me that she knew girls who paid over a hundred dollars for their red copies. (It's a bit of cache to have one of those, in the community.) I believe her, too. I'd pay a lot for another copy. I've got my eyes open, I'll PM you if I ever find more than one.

[gini]

Gotta put in a prop here for Edda Servi Machlin, who's written cookbooks on Tuscan Jewish cuisine. I think the cookbook by her that my parents have is the hardcover edition of The classic cuisine of the Italian Jews: Traditional recipes and menus and a memoir of a vanished way of life, her first cookbook. Anyway, it's terrific. We've made various recipes from the book, and they were all excellent. One Passover, we even made an entire seder of recipes from that book, and it was a smashing success (what great charoses they made in Pitigliano!).

Ditto to this cookbook. It's really wonderful.

[scubadoo97]

That's funny about your collection being all over 30 years old, Pam! Because I used to deal in vintage books, I've got an immense collection of older Kosher  cookbooks too! And, in fact, looking at my collection, nothing modern at all, except for the Deal Delights cookbook. Do you have an edition of that? It's a fabulous Syrian Kosher cookbook. The Sephardic Women's Organization of the Jersey Shore (Deal) has put out a new version recently, with the proceeds going to charity.Deal Delights! Every Syrian Brooklyn/Deal girl I know gets a copy when she gets engaged, and Syrian girls can COOK! I bought a second copy for my kiddle a few months ago, because there's no way that she's taking mine when she leaves the nest!  
edited because I went into my favorites and found the DIRECT link.

I have both volumes of the Deal Delights cookbooks. Another Syrian cookbook outside of our family one we put together that is very good is A Fist Full Of Lentils.

[Rebecca263]

I have both volumes of the Deal Delights cookbooks.  Another Syrian cookbook outside of our family one we put together that is very good is A Fist Full Of Lentils.

I drool on your books! Pam, in your honor today, I got a NEW cookbook, Jewish Cookery, by Leah W. Leonard, 1947, the 1975 printing. 10 cents, American. We'll be having her recipe for Baked Yams On The Half Shell tomorrow night.

[Pam R]

First of all - just last year I inherited the 4-cookbook set. Kosher Italian, French, Chinese... and another one I can't remember. All in hard cover - I don't think they'd ever been used. They're lost in a box at the moment, but will eventually turn up.

There are so many great suggestions - the problem now is which ones to buy first...

[Pam R]

  Pam, in your honor today, I got a NEW cookbook, Jewish Cookery, by Leah W. Leonard, 1947, the 1975 printing. 10 cents, American.  We'll be having her recipe for Baked Yams On The Half Shell tomorrow night.

Excellent. Eventually though, you'll have to get a book published after 1980.

What exactly is the half-shell in this case?

[andiesenji]

One of the gals in my office suggested looking here.

[Gifted Gourmet]

What exactly is the half-shell in this case?

By eliminating the non-kosher oysters and clams, I am assuming that she meant that the yams were split in half ...

[Rebecca263]

BAKED YAMS ON THE HALF SHELL: It's a dairy recipe for baked yams, pulp scooped out and mashed, then mixed with raisins, salt, butter and sugar, then restuffed and browned. Sounds yummy, and I got some yams for .29 a pound today at the 'Farmers' Market', can't wait! I only have the Italian, French and Chinese of those books myself. They're a fun read, but a bit dated, of course.

[Pam R]

One of the gals in my office suggested looking here.

Hmm.. it seems it's a trilogy - which means that I couldn't have a 4th unknown book...

[JoanNathan]

I am new to this site and find it fascinating to see all your postings of Jewish cookbooks. As the author of many I welcome your questions and comments.
I. too, have a favorite, the Community Cookbook from Woonsocket Rhode Island from the 50s. A very interesting sociological study with good recipes of a town during and after the war.
I would also be interseted in French Jewish cookbooks.
Thanks,
Joan Nathan

[Swisskaese]

I am new to this site and find it fascinating to see all your postings of Jewish cookbooks.  As the author of many I welcome your questions and comments.
I. too, have a favorite, the Community Cookbook from Woonsocket Rhode Island from the 50s.  A very interesting sociological study with good recipes of a town during and after the war.
I would also be interseted in French Jewish cookbooks.
Thanks,
Joan Nathan 

Welcome to eGullet! I am a big fan of your cookbooks.

I have your Jewish Holiday Kitchen cookbook. It is my holiday bible.

Edited by Swisskaese, 15 February 2006 - 09:51 AM.